This is a guide for visitors to Canada (such as international students and visa workers) and does NOT apply to Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
Adapted with permission from a post on the Facebook Group PrEP – Canada: Rethinking HIV Prevention by an Australian living in Canada
According to Health Canada and Canada Border Services Agency, visitors to Canada may import prescription medications directly to their home address in Canada, as to not interrupt a course of treatment initiated in their country of origin. This means that visitors to Canada do not have to ship PrEP to the United States and then travel to pick it up
With any order you must supply and send with the medication a copy of:
1. CANADIAN WORKING HOLIDAY OR STUDY VISA
2. PASSPORT FROM YOUR ORIGINAL COUNTRY
3. SCRIPT FROM YOUR LOCAL DOCTOR
4. LETTER FROM YOUR SELF STATING WHO YOU ARE WHY YOU NEED IT AND HOW MUCH IS BEING SENT, WITH DOSAGES (click here for a sample letter of intent)
5. INVOICE SHOWING YOUR PURCHASE AND ADDRESS
6.PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU MAKE SURE ON THE FRONT OF THE PACKAGE IT STATES
***PRESCRIPTION MEDICATION FOR A VISITOR IN CANADA***
7. DELIVERY MUST BE SIGNED FOR WITH PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION OF MEDICATION ON COLLECTION.
Create PDFs of your documents
You will need a digital copies of all the documents above. A scanner is ideal, but a very carefully taken photograph using a smartphone may work — make sure that the lighting is good and that all information is clearly visible.
Most phones and scanners create images in .jpg format, but FedEx requires them to be in .pdf format. Use the free website tool JPG 2 PDF to quickly convert your files by dragging them in to the space that says “Drop your files here”, wait a few seconds for them to convert, then click Download below each file to save the pdf files to your computer.
Ordering
Choose a version of generic PrEP at Dynamix International Pharmacy:
Mylan’s RICOVIR-EM ($112 USD for 90 tablets, EMS shipping to Canada)
Or
Cipla’s TENVIR-EM ($103 USD for 90 tablets, EMS shipping to Canada)
Upload the .PDFs of your documents, as above. Next, follow the described process for Step 3: Ordering via Dynamix International, but ship to your home address in Canada instead of a USA parcel service.
For reference, please see the email from Health Canada below
Dear Mr. [Removed],
This message is in response to your email dated January 19, 2017 regarding the personal importation of Ricovir Em as a visitor to Canada.
In Canada, medications are subject to specific import regulations as per the Food and Drug Regulations, available at the following location: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/C.R.C.,_c._870/page-3.html
Ricovir Em (emtricitabine and tenofovir) is classified as a prescription drug in Canada (as per the Prescription Drug List, Products for Human Use).
As a visitor to Canada, you may be allowed to bring across the border a maximum 90-day supply of prescription drugs to ensure a course of treatment is not interrupted. Always carry a copy of your prescription from your doctor.
Health Canada considers a visitor to Canada: a person who is not a Canadian resident. A visitor to Canada is a person who is not living in Canada and who is in Canada for visiting, studying or for work under a work visa.
All health products shipped or carried into Canada must be in their original package (such as pharmacy packaging) or have their original label and clearly identify the product.
-If you are staying in Canada for more than three months, you may bring into Canada an additional maximum 90-day supply of your health product every three months.
-If you have prescription drugs mailed or couriered to you, you must provide documentation to show they are for a visitor to Canada. If the package does not have the following information, it could be refused entry into Canada:
-A copy of your foreign passport, visitor visa, student visa or work visa.
-Markings on the outside of the shipping package stating that it contains prescription medication for a visitor in Canada.
Always check the Prescription Drug List to see if the health product needs a prescription in Canada or is considered a controlled substance.
For further information on the personal importation of prescription drugs, GUI-0084 can be found on the Health Canada website at the following link: http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/compli-conform/import-export/gui-0084_biu-uif-eng.php
I trust that the information provided has addressed your concerns. Should you have any further questions related to the importation of health products in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us directly at BIU-UIF@hc-sc.gc.ca.
Regards,
Health Product Border Compliance Program | Unité de la conformité des produits de santé à la frontière
Health Product Compliance and Risk Management | Conformité des produits de santé et gestion du risque
Regulatory Operations and Regions Branch | Direction générale des operations réglementaires et des régions
Health Canada | Santé Canada
200 Eglantine Dr., Ottawa, ON, K1A 0K9
Fax/Télécopieur : (613)-960-2156
Under Section C.01.045 of the Food and Drug Regulations importation of Schedule F drugs is restricted to a practitioner, a drug manufacturer, a wholesale druggist, a registered pharmacist, or a resident of a foreign country while a visitor in Canada. Note that drugs imported by practitioners for treating patients are not considered to be personal importations but rather commercial importation for sale as per Section 5.0.
Visitors to Canada:
Visitors to Canada may bring into Canada, on their person a single course of treatment or a 90-day supply based on the directions for use, whichever is less, of a prescription drug.
The drug must be for the individual’s own personal use, for the use of a person for whom they are responsible and with whom they are travelling,.
The drug must be shipped/carried in one of the following:
Hospital or pharmacy dispensed packaging;
Original retail packaging; or
have the original label affixed to it which clearly indicates what the health product is and what it contains.
A Visitor may import an additional single unit, single course of treatment or a 90-day supply based on the directions for use, whichever is less, of a prescription drug. When a prescription drug is mailed to a Visitor, the drug should be accompanied by some form of documentation indicating that the drug is destined to a Visitor and/or the Visitor should be prepared to provide documentation/written evidence (stamped passport, student/work visa, letter from an employer/university etc) that they are a Visitor to Canada when requested.
Canadian Resident:
Importations of prescription drugs by Canadian residents are not permitted by mail or courier.
So as not to interrupt a course of treatment, Health Canada may use enforcement discretion to permit a Canadians returning from abroad to bring with them on their person a single course of treatment or a 90-day supply based on the directions for use, whichever is less, of a prescription drug.
The drug must be for the individual’s own personal use or the use of a person for whom they are responsible and with whom they are travelling.
The drug must be in one of the following:
Hospital or pharmacy dispensed packaging;
Original retail packaging; or
have the original label affixed to it which clearly indicates what the health product is and what it contains.
Davie Buyers Club 